In The Backseat
by chimney leaf
Summary: Videl Satan walks into her first post as a teacher expecting nothing but work, until she meets the infamous Doctor Son. Gh/Vi
1. Breaking Into Heaven

**Forgive me...I had to alter Gohan and Videl's ages in this without much justification. It just works better this way.**

* * *

Professor Son Gohan drowsily opened his eyes in the ever so familiar, but unfamiliar surroundings he often found himself in on a Saturday or Sunday morning every week. It was normally both of those days as well. Bright pink walls assaulted his sense of sight, the remnants of posters clinging to the walls. He looked down at the 'beauty' that he shared this double bed with. He groaned; he must have been absolutely hammered.

He normally maintained some sort of decency, even while drunk, and he always went home with only the best, whatever state he was in, but last night had pushed his limits, and quite obviously found them. He couldn't even remember this one's name. Began with an E. Or was it an A? Who cared? Just gave him more of an incentive to get out of there before she awakened.

As silently as his body, as well as his still inebriated mind would allow, he slid from under the covers, reaching down for as many of his clothes as he could find. Half dressing himself, and retrieving the rest of his attire from around the cluttered room, he loosened the latch for the man-sized window, and leapt out into the brightening morning.

The cool dawn air slapped at his face as he flew, awakening his entire body in the process. Flying always managed to sober him up, it was something he had learned early in college, after his first exploits with alcohol. He hadn't enjoyed the taste a great deal, but his newfound friends were always amazed at his capacity for the stuff. His body had a far higher tolerance level than his fellow students, owing to their 'human-ness'.

His first month in college taught him so much about life, about what he had been missing in his life out in the country. At first he had attended, but remained living at home. While his fellow pupils relished the freedom from their parents, he was still stuck under the iron fist of his mother. He span some yarn about commuting to the city affecting his studies, et voila! His own apartment in the city, fully furnished and supplied for, courtesy of one Bulma Briefs, godmother to Gohan. She hadn't minded at all, she seemed to think that she owed him something, which, of course, she did, along with the rest of earth's population.

He was now twenty-nine years old, he had destroyed Cell twenty years ago, at the tender age of nine. That had been the last enemy they had faced. Gohan didn't train for almost ten years after that, but after realising Vegeta had managed to surpass him, he recommenced, if only to annoy the saiyan prince. Gohan's natural ability and strength easily allowed him to catch up to the older saiyan, and since then, he had remained ahead, dangling the carrot in front of the now ageing Vegeta.

Gohan never thought that he was owed anything by anyone for his victory, the loss of his father, who he still dearly missed, putting a dampener on the whole affair. The identity of the boy that had killed Cell remained a mystery, something he relished. He didn't want all the crap that would inevitably come with it. Even Mr Satan's efforts couldn't overrule the accounts of the cameraman and announcer, who had managed to remain conscious throughout the entire ordeal, unlike the famed martial artist, who had managed to knock himself out on the rock he had been hiding behind.

For the last eleven years, Gohan had been on an endless womanising rampage through Orange Star City. In college, they had flocked to meet the eighteen year old that was already taking a doctorate course. A genius, they had all said. The fact that word said he was the best-looking thing on campus available for the females didn't harm anything either.

The girls on his course had all been around twenty-three at the time he started, five years his senior. That hadn't mattered too much. They were all appealing to him in some way, and they had been the first to succumb to his boyish charm, and confidence that instantly shone through. He grew tired of them physically, though, and the young saiyan was always on the lookout for his next target, the next challenge. Not many had been one of those either, a challenge, things were always far too easy for him. The differences between him and the other males at the university were subtle, but they were there, and the girls saw them all.

Women were drawn to him as a moth to a flame, much to the disgruntlement of his fellows. This hadn't deprived him of friends, however, as they too flocked to be around him, always around to pick up the stragglers, or occupy those who were willing to be with another in an effort to be around Gohan. It wasn't as though he was the resident celebrity, however, and he managed to keep a fairly low profile, considering the circumstances. His existence was almost a myth upon the grounds of the university, most of the women not believing in him until introduced by one who already 'knew' him. The thought of his college reputation brought a smile to his lips, the absurdity of it had forever baffled him.

As it was, he greatly enjoyed his stint there, as short as it was. It took him only two years to achieve a doctorate in biology and evolution. Then it was a simple matter of acquiring a teaching qualification, and moving into employment at Orange Star High. He never considered becoming a university professor, his brief stint there was enough for life. At his teaching post, he had a multitude of female, teenage admirers. He exercised strict control, never even giving a pupil a second glance. None of them appealed to him anyway.

The general view of him at that school was as an exemplary role model for the children. The staff knew about his weekend exploits, but the students knew little. 'Do as I say, don't do as I do' was his general motto when it came to teaching kids the way of living the good life. He still led an honest life though, he contributed to charity, paid his taxes, and never fooled around with a married woman. He had just happened to end up in bed with almost every suitable, available woman in an entire city. Well, not quite _that_ many, but it was a heck of a lot more than his fair share, that he knew.

So now, here he was, flying back to his apartment in Orange Star, another thing his mother had not been too happy about. She had once again felt that it would be much easier for him to simply remain at home, and fly to work each and every day. He, however, realised that this would put an instant halt to his activities, and gave her the same story that he had given her many years ago when he commenced his university studies.

He had to get home quickly, as he always paid his mother and brother a visit on Sunday, where she always forced him into a sit down meal at lunch, and a lengthy discussion about his career, and prospects about the future. The usual nonsense old people cared about. He'd never let her hear him say that one, that was for sure. The main reason he went was to keep an eye on his little brother. He had been slowly introducing Goten to the city, and the time came for the inevitable university education that would be enforced by his mother two years ago.

Goten had stayed at home to study, and hadn't been the child prodigy that Gohan had been. He was studying with people his own age, doing things the normal way. He hadn't had as much of a culture shock as Gohan had, and eased into the life at a much slower pace. He had already had a relatively long relationship of nine months, which had been broken off just a few weeks previous. This positively dwarfed Gohan's record, of an entire week, that he achieved in his first one, a girl from his first course. Hers was one of the names he could remember. She held a special place in his heart, she had been his first after all. But there were countless others whose name he couldn't remember, much like the one he had just left snoring in her bedroom.

Then, perhaps his brother would one day be able to actually settle down, and lead a steady life with a wife and kids, unlike the older demi-saiyan. Gohan had grown so accustomed to his life, he couldn't imagine ever marrying. He didn't see the attraction of it, being tied to one person for the rest of a life, such a ridiculous idea. He had never been much of a true believer in love, or maybe he didn't think that he personally was capable of it in that form. As for children, he wasn't bothered. Raising Goten had been brilliant, but he didn't think that he would ever be ready to raise his own. He didn't want kids, and he didn't have any of them up until now - he hoped. Goten could continue the Son line.

He couldn't see how one woman would be able to keep him satisfied and occupied with her for years to come. He hadn't slept with the same woman twice in nearly ten years, always charming them one night, and then sweet-talking them into forgiving him for the one night stand. He only did the latter if he was certain to encounter them again.

Returning to the luxury apartment that he lived in, paid for by his more than generous salary for his multiple jobs and titles held at school, a lump sum given to him by Bulma after graduating and the odd bit of money won at martial arts tournaments when he got a bit bored at the weekend, he changed into more suitable attire. His mother had always taught him to dress smartly, to make a good first impression, and she wouldn't even let him in her home anymore unless he was, in her humble opinion, suitably dressed.

She usually let him pass these days with a clean button up, black pants and black shoes. Anything less was a no-no. Jeans almost made her wail in agony, she really was that deranged. He threw on the required clean clothes after entering through the door. He picked up the bag that contained his dirty laundry, and left again quickly, locking the door behind him.

Running unassumingly down the street, he blended in, shooting off into the sky quicker than the human eye could see. None of them saw the twenty-something man actually disappear, they just assumed that he had darted off in another direction. Gohan had become an expert at blending in the city over the last eleven years, and could take off from almost anywhere, no matter what the situation. They hardly expected someone to just take off into the sky, did they?

Slinging the bag onto his shoulder, he set himself to a leisurely pace, following the route that he knew so well back to the countryside. The small house quickly came into view, the quaint countryside around it creating a picturesque view from his vantage point high in the air. He descended, and landed on the lush green grass that surrounded the house for miles about a hundred feet from the front door. Chichi liked to retain some semblance of 'normalness', and wouldn't allow her boys to use overtly abnormal powers too close to the home unless it was vital to do so.

As he approached the door, he reached out a hand to turn the handle, the sound of more than two chattering voices coming from inside. It was only meant to be family on this day. Having a day exclusively for family one day in every week did seem a bit excessive, even for his mother, so he shrugged it off. Opening the door, he spotted Goten's ex-girlfriend, or whom he thought to be that, sitting with Goten, now talking intimately, his mother moved away to the kitchen. His arrival had not been noticed as of yet.

"I'm here." He spoke to his family.

His mother shot around a hundred and eighty degrees. "Gohan! You've arrived. Look at that. Almost thirty and you can't wash your own clothes!" She took the bag from his grasp. "You remember Katie don't you?" He turned to the girl sat with his brother, smiling up at him. He did remember her, but he last met her over six months ago. She and Goten had been together three months. He had been surprised they had split. She was a pretty young thing, very good looking and it almost seemed as though the two were in love at the time, whatever that meant. He had never felt it.

Getting straight to the point, as always, he spoke again. "I thought that you two split up."

The two of them looked at each, gazing into one another's eyes. How sickening, Gohan thought. Then Goten spoke, "That was a mistake, a big misunderstanding. We're back together again and we're going to get married." Gohan simply raised an eyebrow at first at the revelation.

"Why? Did you knock her up or something?" He joked. The couple gave each other sheepish grins, and then he saw the small bump on the girl's belly. Goten you idiot! "That isn't the only reason that you're doing this is it?"

"Of course not. We just realised how we felt, and just brought things forward a bit because of the baby, it's pretty far along."

Gohan nodded at his brother's sincerity, giving his silent approval of the whole affair. The rest of the night was spent talking of grandchildren and weddings, Chichi getting wholly overexcited. She also questioned why Gohan couldn't settle down like his younger brother, and put an end to the meaningless flings. The woman knew of Gohan's social life, but only to a limited extent, Gohan keeping most of the details from her. If she knew, he didn't know what she would think, or do to him.

"I just want you to be happy Gohan." She told him as he was about to leave for the city, ready for another day of work tomorrow.

"I am happy mother."

"You think you are now, but do you want to be like this when you are forty years old? Alone, wifeless, childless. You'll look back to this time and you'll wonder - Why?"

"Sure I will mom." With a peck on the cheek, he was gone.

The next day was the start of another school year for the students and teachers of Orange Star High. Videl Satan was halfway between the two. She had just completed her master's degree, and was very pleased with what she had achieved. The school had welcomed her as a teacher in training, and she would be here part time for the entire year as part of her teaching course, in the hope of taking her on full time at the establishment afterwards. Teaching had always interested her, and she wanted to give something back to society. Her father had wanted her to follow in his footsteps as a professional martial artist, but she was happy enough to continue it as a hobby.

Currently, she was walking up the front steps of Orange Star High, along with the teacher who would be looking after her this year while she was at the school. Videl herself was wearing fairly conservative attire, a long skirt and white button up blouse kept her well covered. She never enjoyed being gawped at, and had been covering her body over since she entered the her teenage years.

Looking round, she noticed that it was still fairly empty, only a few students were milling about the school's grounds.

"The lazy assholes never turn up before the bell rings." Miss Kendry, Videl's guide for the year, told her, dislike of the students making itself very clear.

"They don't?" Videl questioned. The strict catholic school her father had sent her to did not tolerate tardiness, and all students arrived half an hour before classes began. They were now approaching the staff room, located down a corridor that Videl knew. She had visited the school on numerous occasions, normally for an interview with the principal, others just to be shown around. The school had been near to her father's mansion where she lived as a child, but she had never had the need to enter.

Pushing open the large, heavy brown doors, Miss Kendry held the door open for Videl. She looked around, recognising most of the faces present. She had been introduced during her visits to the school, as they dropped into the school, preparing their lessons for the year.

Her eyes stopped darting around the room when she saw a strikingly handsome man she had never seen before, sat on a desk, charming a woman with a bush of brown hair, of about fifty, whom she didn't recognise either. She kept blushing and looking down at the ground as he smiled at her. With a final word, he got up as she let out a short laugh. He stood, and turned towards her.

Videl found herself almost rooted to the spot as he smiled at her, and her stomach made leaps deep inside her. He was then gone, out of the door that they had just come through, gliding right past her, brushing her hand with his own, purely by accident, of course. She savoured the tingling feeling she still felt at the point where their skin had met, for one blissful moment.

She found herself unable to concentrate as his image infiltrated her mind. His black hair seemed as though it defied gravity, spiking up without any hints of gel. Wire-framed glasses that gave him an educated and adult look framed his dark, smouldering eyes, but his smile was almost a cheeky, boyish grin.

The sleeves to his blue button up shirt were rolled up, his collar was loose along with his tie, and there clearly had been little effort at tucking the shirt in. Despite this, he didn't look out of place, and Videl just couldn't imagine what he would look like in a suit, he seemed correct in what he was wearing. She shook her head as thoughts permeated her mind of what he looked like underneath the shirt, as suggested by his muscular forearms.

"_That, _my dear Videl, was Doctor Son. Just call him Gohan, he prefers it."

"What does he teach?" She questioned, his image still firmly placed within her mind.

"Advanced sciences, a bit of physical education. Plus, he's one of the deputy principals. A brilliant mind, got his doctorate at around twenty I think."

"Twenty!"

"He's got a good heart, but watch out for him Videl. He's a serial womaniser, seriously serial. I once myself found myself in the arms of 'The Doctor' a while back. Everyone woman under forty working in this place has at one time or another." She noticed the surprised and doubtful look on the younger woman's face. "And when I say everyone, I mean, _everyone. _Take care around him, because you will undoubtedly be his next target. And when you find him turning on the charm, I assure you, you will _not_ be able to resist." The woman then proceeded to allow her face to take on a dreamy look.

Videl thought back to Gohan. Sure, he had possibly been the most handsome man she had ever seen, and he was a bit older and very intelligent, which only added to his allure, but she was sure that she could resist the temptation, couldn't she?


	2. Fingers In The Factories

Gohan strode down one of the many boring hallways of Orange Star High, greeting students as he went by. The lockers had now been painted a garish blue that clashed with absolutely everything else in the corridors. The principal seemed to deem it necessary to alter the decor every year, or at least some part of it, and this time it was the lockers' turn.

He wore his usual, untidy look to work every morning, not particularly out of his choice in particular though, but he did enjoy it. He didn't even own a suit anymore, and the principal and higher authorities allowed his unkempt appearance to go on. He never had time in the morning to shave properly, he dressed on the way to work in his car, which he used due to the fact that, although someone seeing a man seemingly disappear is acceptable once in while, he couldn't exactly go about doing it every day from the same place. His shirt always found its way out from its position tucked into the top of his pants, normally by his own hand, as he felt uncomfortable with its restriciveness. The amount he had done for, and contributed to the school almost gave him free reign over the school. He certainly was an influential and powerful figure inside those walls, a reputation built in his nine or so years there.

This first day of the year certainly had proved rather interesting. He had been informed of the new teachers that were beginning, all either old or male, or both. No real interest to him, unless of course for a chat now and again. He had also been informed of the trainee English teacher that was to be starting out soon. The principal, Mrs Thompson, had failed to mention that this trainee was both young, and female, she probably didn't want him to ensnare her like he had so many others, and hoped he wouldn't even see her if he wasn't looking for her in the first place.

As if that was going to happen. She was the hottest thing he had seen in a long time, a _very_ long time. Fresh out of college no doubt, probably not a day over twenty one, twenty two at most, if he was not mistaken.

The clothes, consisting of a long skirt and baggy blouse, along with the hair pulled up into a neat bun, gave the impression she didn't take too kindly to men lusting after her. However, the clothes had given the wrong impression to Gohan. He sensed a 'school-ma'amish' vibe coming off of her, and he definitely liked that sort of thing, if the opportunity was there for it. Plenty of other teachers he had met had gone for the same look, and that hadn't stopped him. She didn't appear to be wearing any make-up, probably thinking that without, she seemed less attractive. Gohan thought the opposite. Make-up might actually detract from her attractiveness, she looked that good. He had instantly seen through the disguise and defences she had erected around herself.

He now regretted his earlier comment to himself. She was not 'hot'. She was beautiful. He couldn't remember the last time he thought that. Maybe he never had. All he knew was that he wanted her, to take her. Something stirred deeper inside him, but he forcibly pushed it aside, it was something he definitely did not understand.

It would be easy for him to have her, she was younger, and his presence and reputation around the school preceeded him. She wouldn't be able to avoid him, no matter where she was. He decided to make a little alteration to his tactics though. Perhaps if he waited a while, just to see if he could. He knew he could go without sex, it wasn't as though he was addicted to it or anything, it was getting too easy anyway. Chrstmas was his target. She was captivating, more so than any other he had met in a long time, longer than he could remember in fact, and he wanted to test out his limits in this area.

He strolled casually into his classroom where he took registration. He had a new class this year, and some were already sat around the laboratory. He had the best one in the school, to teach his advanced classes, where he only took the best. His form, however, were whatever he was allocated by the principal. This year then, he would have one of the new, younger classes, full of anoying brats who he would have to coach through their years at the establishment. Great. Not that he minded kids that much, he just had so much to do.

He sighed as the few students left outside filtered into the large room. Time to become the caring mentor.

Four agonising hours later it was time for lunch, Gohan's stomach already rumbling, attracting the attention of a few around him. With a carefree smile he waved away their interest in his internals, and turned, ready for his portion of the school canteen's ever so delightful choice of the day. Taking his more than generous helping allocated to him as a teacher, which he obtained for free, of course, he sat down with what was in reality, to him at least, an almost non-existent meal.

Looking over at the double doors leading into the large room, he spotted the newsest object of his desires walk in along with a former one. Ah, yes, he remembered Miss Kendry well, she hadn't been all that long ago, perhaps a year. She was older than him, but started long after, and she had sunk her claws into him quickly. No one had explained about Gohan to her, and she didn't realise that it was in fact he who had ensnared her.

He allowed his eyes to linger on her accomplice for a little longer than would normally be expected, along with the rest of the males in the chamber. He quickly averted them as she turned to him, as she sensed his gaze upon her, but allowed them to remain long enough for her to know that he was looking.

She walked with such grace and poise, and held her head up high, unashamed of herself, just self aware. The way her hips moved and swayed remained in his mind, taunting him. It would be _so_ _easy_ to just walk over there, set himself down beside her and turn on the charm for her. That wouldn't just be easy though, it would be _too _easy. But no, he didn't want to do that quite yet. He felt that she was probably worth waiting for, and maybe this was the change in approach that he needed to liven things up a little.

She sat down with her face towards him, Miss Kendry's back facing him. She kept glancing up at Gohan, much to his approval, obviously checking whether he was still looking. He kept his eyes firmly placed downward onto his plate, not wanting to give her any more hope, not just yet. His gaze at her as she walked in had clearly had its desired effect.

--

Videl couldn't help but think that Professor Son, or Doctor Son, or whatever he was, only averted his eyes at that late stage on purpose, to suggest some things to her overactive and over working brain. She never liked to say it herself, because she never wanted to seem like she was boasting or big headed, but she was beautiful. Even when she went around in those baggy fighting clothes, people would often tell her of it.

From what Miss Kendry had told her, Videl was likely to soon fall under the charm of Gohan, as he had undoubtedly spotted her that morning, and he never gave up the chance for a good looking woman.

In truth she was intrigued. Would she succumb to his charms like so many others had before her? Or would her general apathy towards men continue on? Despite the fact that Videl knew him to be a serial womaniser, a one night stand merchant, and all round general bastard towards women in the emotional stakes, she found herself still wanting him. She would actually be happy to spend one night with him, and then listen intently to the cock and bull story he would undoubtedly come out with the next morning, probably about how hard it is for him to form meaningful relationships. If he even stayed around to tell her that story, that is. Perhaps she could be the one who he finally decided was worth more to him than a one night stand. Perhaps she could be the one to tame him.

She wanted to stop thinking of him like this but found that as hard as she may try, she just could not achieve that feat of mind control, as simple as it may sound. She had never been that bothered by men or relationships, just the odd one interspersed within her time at university, none of them resulting in much in the way of happiness or enjoyment. Why now? Why Gohan?

She continued stealing glances at him as he ate, now reading a paper set down on the table beside his tray, glasses almost slipping off the end of his nose. She sighed and bit down on her botton lip softly as he moved an arm up to reposition them, even this simple and incredibly unerotic action sending her a little off balance both emotionally and physically.

She tried to concentrate harder on what her companion was saying as he rose, placed his tray where they were supposed to go and strode confidently out of the room. As he passed, she was almost ecstatic to notice the small look her gave her and the small smile that went with it. She shook her head almost violently. Get a grip on yourself! Was what she heard reverberating around her mind, cries from the sane and still conscious part of her brain.

That afternoon's lessons passed by both slowly and fairly boringly for all involved at the school, except for advanced chemistry, where Gohan often displayed a series of dangerous reactions, not only at the start of the year, but all of the way through it, resulting in an array of explosions, some felt on the ooposite side of the school.

In the afternoons, particularly at the beginning of the week, Gohan visited the gym at the school. Not that he needed the exercise or training of that form to increase his power and fitness though, even the maximum weights of all of the stations put together wouldn't feel like any more than a grain of sand, but simply because it actually relaxed him. Flying about, firing ki blasts at mountains might make your power skyrocket, but it was anything but relaxing.

So here he was, steadily lifting the maximum weight possible on the bench press, completely alone, all of the students having already left for their homes and family. Gohan tilted his head over to the side while continuing to move the weights as the door creaked open.

He smirked as he saw her walk in, looking around the room to see if she would be having any company. His smirk grew triumphant as he spotted her notice his presence, and promptly began to get a bit flustered, probably due to the vest that revealed a little more of him than she was expecting.

"Sorry...I didn't think...I'll go." She turned, seeming a bit unstable on her feet.

"No, its fine." Gohan reassured her. "I could do with some company."

She seemed a little more appeased at this. "You sure?"

"Yes, it's massive in here, I get a little lonely on my own sometimes." Gohan looked her up and down for the first time, and his jaw almost gaped wide open. She had a pair of very revealing cycling shorts on and a white tank top that didn't hide much either, and her hair was down, in a lazily done pony tail. His eyes trailed her body, over her well developed legs and thighs, rounded hips and thin waist, and up her chest. She was so perfectly proportioned and shaped for her size that it hurt him to look at her and think that he had stupidly set himself a target of resisting, when he could have her right now.

The contrast between her teaching and training attire was a stark one. Her toned muscles, something Gohan had not been able to glimpse through her long skirt and baggy blouse were now fully revealed to him, and it was obvious that not only was she impeccably well trained in fitness, but also very physically strong. Luckily, she had kept well clear of the boundary where women began to lose femininity and become something neither here nor there.

He caught himself quickly before it became too obvious what he was thinking of doing with her at that moment, and allowed that carefree smile that was often present to emerge once again. "Do you know what you're doing in here?"

"Well, most of the equipment I've used before, but this running machine, I can honestly say that I've never seen one like it."

Gohan smiled. She wouldn't have. He had taken it from Bulma after she had finished tweaking it, it was a prototype, something that would not be out in the public domain for a good while yet. He had the newer model at home, he gave this one to the school, after receiving that one. He beckoned her on to it, and fired it up.

She began walking slowly, and quickened her pace with the tread. The woman turned her head to Gohan, her confidence returning as he gave her a questioning raised eyebrow.

"Sure is smooth. Where did the school get this? I know it isn't short of money, but this thing must of cost a fortune."

Gohan leapt into the explanation of the treadmill, and this somehow led into a discussion of martial arts, and this obviously gave Gohan the explanantion to Videl's well toned body, and vice versa, and before long, they were interrupted by a janitor telling them that it was gone seven, and that they had to piss off. After changing out of their dirty clothes, Gohan walked Videl to her car slowly.

"You know Gohan, you're nothing like what I expected you to be like."

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Well, I thought that you were going to hit on me for a start."

"Let me guess, Miss Kendry, along with the majority of the females on this faculty gave you that idea."

"Yep. I thought that you would be all over me, but you actually put me at ease, I enjoyed talking with you."

"I don't go after people I really like straight away." He told her, straight into her eyes.

Videl blushed a little, at the obviousness of his comment. "You're hitting on me now, aren't you?" She questioned.

He began backing away slowly towards his own car. "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. I'll let you decide that one for yourself."

"It won't work on me Gohan. I'm not like other women."

"I know." With a smile, he left her shaking her head, stood alone by her car in an almost empty car park.


	3. She Bangs The Drums

"So, Videl, are you going to the christmas staff party?" The ever present Miss Kendry questioned her charge for the year. The sounds emanated stirred the brain of the one questioned and Videl slowly turned her head from where she had been looking, staring perplexedly towards the object that kept her attending the school as a student teacher while simultaneously causing her to feel like she never wanted to come back.

She was more confused now than she had ever been in her entire life. He had been almost nothing like they said he would be. Most of the things that she had expected were true, it wasn't as if he was the complete opposite to what the descriptions told her, but almost everyone on the faculty was in shock to his behaviour. Gohan's antics were of course the main topic for discussion, and had been for many a year.

No one knew just yet why the womanising that was so consistent and accurate in its ways that you could set a watch by it had ceased, except Gohan though, or so the masses hoped. There wouldn't be much gossip otherwise.

Videl was so confused because Gohan had actually been in contact with her more than any other teacher, even Miss Kendry was not around her as much as the tall male stood no more than twenty feet from her. It almost seemed as though they were actually _friends_, of all things.

To Videl, it didn't appear that Gohan had a great many female friends, he had put himself in exile for his past actions with them all on that front. They often clamoured to be around him, but he didn't seem too interested in anyone for that purpose, and they just appeared to want to see a bit more of him.

At first, Videl had her doubts, she had never actually seen him courting anyone, so she just suspected that this was his way, but after only a week at the school, she had already had her doubts, all fueled by the words of the other teachers who all looked like they were about to burst into a state of panic whenever the subject came up. She had never been one to boast, but was fairly certain that Gohan didn't find her visually revolting, so she threw the idea that he simply didn't want to sleep with her for that reason straight out of the window.

One thought that was constantly nagging at her, one that would not go away, was that maybe there was a slight chance that the man she thought that she was falling in love with, something all of the other women claimed to have done at some point as well, could actually want her for more than just a one night stand. She didn't want to elevate her distant and improbable hopes however, and subdued these feelings as much as was humanly possible.

Occasionally she would catch him looking at her, his eyes almost burning, filled with a lustful, predatory gaze, perhaps in the school gym where they both went after school, together of course, like _friends_, or in the bar where they went after that. When she saw him with that look in his eyes, she felt as though he was about to make love to her then and there, no matter the location or what company they were in, and a very large part of her hoped that he would, not in the middle of a bar though. Every time she caught him, however, he would manage to revert his stare back to one that one would normally expect to see while engaging in a perfectly harmless and non-erotic conversation.

She knew that he had often caught her looking at him in a slightly similar way, perhaps not quite so predatory, but definitely full of lust. Occasionally she would be doing it on purpose, maybe while they were together in the gym, in an attempt to show her growing, or rather, exploding interest in him, but the majority were simply lapses in her concentration, as her eyes slowly kept tracing a line to where he would be working, effortlessly lifting unimaginably heavy amounts of weights.

"Huh? What?" The dark haired woman replied.

"I _said_," she began, exasperated, "are you gonna go to the party? The christmas one. It's always a blast."

"I don't know. I'm not usually into that kind of thing, I can't really hold my drink too well." Videl knew exactly what this party was, just an excuse for a massive bender, the booze-up of the year no doubt, teachers could really go at it all right, must be the children's fault.

"I'm sure Gohan'll be there. He always is, maybe that'll be the night that you two _finally_ get it on. I really don't know what's got into him these last few months. I was sure that he would of had you in the first week. Rumour has it that he's staying away from his old haunts, too. It's as if he's fasting or something, abstaining from sex for a little while. I doubt that he'll last much longer though. Christmas party, I'm telling you, watch out for him, 'cause he'll be coming to get you." With a wink, she was gone. Videl shook her head at her colleague's bullshit that she hoped to high heaven was actually true. She now felt as if she could go insane if this carried on the way it was going.

Perhaps if she did go, both of them might be a little loosened up after a few drinks, and things could follow on from there. She mentally scolded herself before her thought process at the time dragged her even further. She had never in her life thought thoughts like these she had felt over the last couple of months. Men hadn't been anywhere near the top of her list of priorities, if they were even on there at all.

But now, however, things seemed very different. She was actually considereing getting herself and another drunk just so that there might be a greater chance for the two of them to wind up in bed together. When had things changed so much? Stupid Gohan taking his time in only befriending her, why couldn't she receive the same treatment the other women had got? Her mind was currently blinded towards the fact that all Gohan gave them was a one night stand and nothing more, something not to be particularly proud of, in particular for Gohan.

* * *

Gohan felt the eyes of a certain woman burning into the back of his head, but chose to ignore them for the moment, he was actually talking serious business here. As soon as that was over, he allowed his mind to wander back towards her.

He had resisted the urges to take her to bed much more easily than he thought he would have, maybe he wasn't a compulsive after all. Actually staying away from her however, had been a much more difficult challenge. At first he simply intended to make a caual acquaintance with her, a hello and a smile in the corridor, perhaps the odd chat over a cup of coffee, but nothing more.

He was constantly attracted to her though, but this time not in the looks department, it was just a very pleasing bonus that he got to sit and stare at her for great portions of every day. He was in fact being attracted to her personality, always wanting to be around her, always talking, conversing for hours on end sometimes with her, noticing all of the small things that he never used to even see or sense at all in other women, things that he felt either didn't exist, or didn't matter at all.. The way that she laughed, or smiled, or the little things that got her excited when they talked, and a whole host of other foolish things. He didn't understand it, and frankly he was quite scared of it.

He could not really talk to anyone about it, especially not his mother. She would just spout some bullshit about how he was probably in love, whatever that was. Just a load of nonsense he constantly told himself. Love did not exist, at least not in his world, where Gohan's word was the absolute, and only law.

Goten wouldn't be much use either, his current state of mind left in no state to give romantic advice. His engagement had seemingly brought a bout of paranoia upon the poor boy, and the added pressure of his imminent fatherhood responsibilities did nothing to aid this. The younger saiyan had felt that the way that Katie had 'looked' at Gohan on one occasion was unacceptable.

This had immediately scaled into an all out war for all of three minutes, where Goten decided he would foolishly attempt to teach his older, and far stronger brother a lesson. While Goten had been spouting off crap about how the child probably wasn't even his, and most likely his own brother's, he had also attacked his sibling, fists flying uncontrollably.

In the mindset he was in, he was simply flailing about like a hooked fish on a line, merely prolonging his agony. Luckily the situation did not escalate into the realms of super saiyans, but Gohan was forced to power up along with his brother.

The sound of Gohan's fist colliding with his younger brother's jaw was sickening for the viewers to hear, who were only the boys' mother and Goten's girlfriend, and the blow sent the younger Son reeling backwards onto the cool grass beneath. As Goten nursed his mutilated jawbone, Gohan strode to him and crouched before him.

There was absolutely nothing for him to worry about, he had told him. There was nothing between the two of them, and never would be, the bond between the brothers was far too strong for that. The child could definitely not be his, he also informed his young brother, as he had most certainly used protection. The look on his face! That was a moment that Gohan Son would not forget in a very long time, if at all. Of course it was all a little joke, a bit of harmless fun, although Goten took a little convincing afterwards, as he immediately jumped back at his brother.

Maybe after he had slept with her, on the night of the annual staff christmas party, he would forget about all of this nonsense, about her, and move onto his next, or perhaps just continue on his apparent aimless charge through the endless supply of women in the city for him to seduce.

Fat chance.

* * *

Gohan was agog at the site before him. He had agreed with Videl to pick her up before the party, and drive her there, saving her the trouble of doing it herself, and had planned on sharing a taxi to their respective abodes. Of course Gohan knew that they would both be returning here together tonight, and he wouldn't find his way home until the next morning.

When they had met up outside of school hours, she had always worn simple attire, out of her 'ma'amish' stuff, but still equally respectable and conservative, with her worn jeans and well fitting but unrevealing t-shirts.

Tonight, however, it seemed as though she had put just a little bit more of an effort into her look. The women always dressed up to these sorts of thing far more than the men did, but Videl, despite the huge differences to what she normally wore, was definitely not over the top, although Gohan felt slightly inadequate in his simple black pants and dark blue dress shirt.

She wore a little make-up, just blusher and a little eyeliner that brought them out fantastically, she knew that she never really needed much to look good. A simple white top was adorned that plunged dangerously far down her neckline, revealing just the barest hint of cleavage, or possibly not quite the_ barest_, more like the maximum without causing offence, and a _very_ short, grey, pleated skirt that revealed the long, silky legs that he had only seen emerge while wearing a pair of cycling shorts. As for shoes? Who cares about shoes?

She looked like she was after someone tonight, and she sure as hell looked as though she was about to get him.

In the car, Gohan could barely keep his eyes on the road. From his elevated postion beside her, he could clearly see right down her chest, and the way she crossed her legs left little to the imagination. Was he nervous? No, the butterflys in his stomach were not nerves, he was never nervous, he was simply excited. That in itself was odd as well. He was never really that excited either, women were not quite the challenge they had once been for him. Even in his younger days it was laughably easy for him, but when compared to the last few years he certainly was an amateur back then. Maybe he was excited because of the long wait that he had endured. It couldn't just be that this one woman got him all hot under the collar and as excited as a dog in the prime of its life in heat.

As they approached the place where the school always held these functions, inside a small function room to the side, he got out and walked around quickly as Videl exited the car, heping her out, much to her amusement. Who said chivalry was dead? It didn't make things worse for Gohan that he could see everything even better as she bent over to get out.

Leading her in by the arm, he detached from her and allowed the woman to go for a chat with some of the other female teachers congregated a few feet away, while he went over to the bar to speak with the principal and a couple of the other vices who had already arrived.

As soon as the music began, a number of the younger, more nubile female members of staff began dancing in the centre of the so called 'dance floor'. Surprisingly for Gohan, Videl was among them, or rather seemed to be actually leading the pack. He never knew that she could dance quite this well, although he noticed that she definitely had the body for it. He was now seated in one of the seats at the side with the other males, watching the show unfold.

Videl was facing him, and she was the only one that he was focused on, the others did not matter at this point. He blocked out the cheesy pop music that was playing, blaring away in his sensitive ears, and he caught the mischevious grin and twinkle in her eye as she turned slowly, placing her hands at the top of her backside, seeming to move in slow motion to him. He knew that all of this was for his own benefit, there was no doubt about that. He wondered whether this was all planned on her behalf. Was she trying to get him into bed tonight like he was? Was she a man eater, as he was a complete womaniser?

No, she wasn't. He knew about the few relationships that she had maintained in her college years, and he saw no hint of lies or deception. She was so angelic, almost pure, and he almost felt bad at what he was about to do. She wasn't a virgin, but had hardly any experience at all. Was it really fair to her that he should simply leave her after one night. He wanted to be friends afterwards, but could he? Could she still be friends with him?

He pushed it all down as far as it would possibly go, down into the recesses of his mind. He wanted her, he was going to have her no matter what the cost. And he was definitely not about to change his ways and settle down, or anything stupid like that. His goal should remain unchanged.

He stood up, regained his usual calm and collected self, and strode right over to her, grasping her wrist with his hand. He didn't know how long he could wait, but he did not really want to find out. Normally he might actually put on a show, as if he was actually putting the effort in, but not tonight, the effort had been put in since september, this was the culmination.

He shouted to her, but it came out as a whisper in her ear. "Do you want to go outside?" Nice and direct, nothing else like a direct question in a situation like this.

She gave him a coy smile, underlaid with obvious intent, but gave the exact opposite answer to the one that he was rightfully expecting. She actually shook her head.

"You'll have to try harder than _that!" _She mouthed to him slowly. She turned around with a smile on her face and a laugh in her throat.

Gohan groaned a loud groan that was barely even heard inside his own head, but a smile still on his face. She was playing games, playing hard to get. He sighed, he would have to dance! Dancing was easy, but no fun at all really, or at least not normally.

He took that back soon enough however. Dancing with Videl was even better than sex with almost every other woman he had slept with. She knew exactly what to do with her body, with some kind of subconscious ability that every person on the planet would kill for. Almost every time he came into contact with her, which was inevitably a great deal of times, he was in danger of getting a little over excited right there in front of everyone, and he felt, or rather knew that she felt the same. She didn't object to his hands roaming about her body.

Most of the other members of staff were now completely plastered, dropping wine bottles all over the floor in their drunken stupor, or collapsed on the chairs and sofas around the room. The two of them were alone in their soberness, as well as their space on the dance floor, but even if there were others, they would be easily forgotten or unnoticed. Currently there was only one other thing that mattered in the world to the other, and the actions of their hands had gone far beyond what one would normally see in a normal club or bar. Lucky for them that no one else would remember a moment of this party.

Gohan soon felt a soft, dainty hand clasp itself around his wrist, and slowed himself down as he felt Videl do the exact same thing. She was biting her lower lip in anticipation, and breathed a few words that he neither heard or read on her lips, but he knew exactly what they were. "I want to go outside now."

He exchanged their grips, and he was the one that now held the woman's arm. Leading her to the door at a pace that seemed painfully slow, he turned to check that she wasn't drunk or high, he couldn't take advantage of her. He knew she wasn't, he had kept his eyes on her all night, they had drunk water only to prevent dehydration. Gohan wondered how they had stopped dancing to get that. He certainly didn't remember it, but he knew that it had happened.

As the doors flung open before him, he swung her around and smoothly caught her behind her back with one arm and slowed her down so as not to hurl her against the wall. She furiously crushed her lips to his own. His hand moved to her waist, and the other to her neck, while her own snaked their underneath his shirt, and around to his back.

Gohan felt her thigh brush up against his hip, her leg raised and knee bent. He moved his left hand from her neck to her upper thigh, and lifted her effortlessly up, bringing her closer to him. His heart was hammering away in his chest like a subway train, in a never relenting beat, faster than it had ever before. He removed his tongue from her mouth and gently caressed along her jawbone and neck with his lips. As she moaned slightly, arching her back into him, he drew back. "Do you want to get a cab?" He managaed to gasp out. He had been shocked to find how out of breath he was.

She nodded with no hesitation. He saw so many emotions in her beautiful blue eyes, some he recognised, but a scary few that he didn't. The obvious ones were there, like they always were in the situations that he had found himself in, such as lust, passion and anticipation for what was to come. What were those other emotions that he spied that looked so powerful? He wondered what she could see in his own eyes.

In years to come, he wondered just how they made it to the taxi rank near to the hall in the middle of the city, how they made it all of the way to Videl's apartment luxuriously fitted out and paid for by her father without making love to each other. It wasn't until after this one night that he began calling it that.

As Videl fumbled with her keys, Gohan pulled her around to face him. He planted a soft kiss on her lips and pulled back gently. He was confused, and his eyes showed it.

"What's wrong?" She whispered.

"I don't know." He wasn't lying. The feeling in the pit of his stomach and the odd murmers of his heart were all new to him.

Videl bit down on her bottom lip softly. "Gohan, I feel like I should tell you...I've never done this before. I'm a virgin. I was lying when I told you otherwise."

He smiled at her. "We can stop if you want?"

"No. I want this, I want you."

Gohan nodded. Somewhere deep down he knew this was almost like his first time too. Never before had he been in a stuation like this. He knew that tonight both of them would be experiencing something special.

As soon as they made it inside, nothing was stopping them or holding them back. Clothes were discarded quickly and efficiently in the hallway by the front door and the walls of the corridor leading up towards her bedroom would tell of the passionate kisses experienced there if they could talk.

Once inside her bedroom, Gohan gently placed his broad hands on her round hips, and once again effortlessly lifted her from the ground. She wrapped her legs around his thin waist, as he slowly descended onto the bed. Things were no longer rushed, the formalities had been done with and the games played.


	4. For A Month Of Sundays

Gohan lay wide awake, his eyes fully open in his confusion. There she lay, her gentle breaths caressing his chest, caring nothing of the torment that was currently coursing through his mind and his very being. Since when did he actually fall asleep with a woman actually in his arms? He found out very quickly that women were an annoyance to say the least when using a bed for what it was designed for.

They moved around far too much, mumbled incessantly, and put their heads in awkward places atop of him. Of course he himself never did anything of the sort, he was a composed and restful sleeper. So how in God's name had he allowed this to happen? How had he got the best night's sleep he could remember? The fact that he was exhausted beyond belief probably helped. Dancing all night long, and then returning to bed with a woman who, despite having no knowledge of it herself, was a demon in the bedroom. Even though it had been her first time and he had caused her discomfort at first, he knew that something magical had happened, as much as it pained him to say it. It had emotionally exhausted him.

The best night of his life? No doubt about it for Son Gohan. Another thing that worried him was the fact that he wanted her again, right now to tell the truth. He wanted to wake her up, stare into those eyes that he had looked into longingly for the last three months or so, and make love to her. He did not just say that, he did _not_ just say 'make love'. What was he, a girl? At least he didn't say anything quite as stupid as to say that he loved her, even in the confines of his vexed mind.

He returned to the topic at hand, and the sleeping woman that lay peacefully in his arms. He still encircled her with those arms, not wanting to disturb her slumber, and enjoying the comforting weight of her lying on his upper body. Her head rested just below his chin, tilted to the side so that he could see her features fairly clearly. Without thinking he bent is head and placed a kiss on to the top of her head, breathing in her scent as he did so, relishing the softness of her hair on his face. He could almost imagine being able to look at her, and only her for the rest of his life. That didn't sound too good, he had to get out from this position before he started deciding on how to propose to her.

Perhaps all he was worried about was that he would struggle to find anyone to top that night. He was sure that he would easily enough, given enough time and plenty of women. He tried in vain to ignore the niggling voice at the back of his head telling him that he wouldn't, and that he did not even want to try to.

He slowly and gently began removing his arms from around her petite body, trying wholeheartedly not to wake her, so as to avoid any awkwardness for either side, not only himself. After losing the support that his arms supplied, Videl easily rolled from off him, falling slowly onto her sheets. All he had to do was return to the hallway, collect his clothes and belongings, and he could be gone. She could have an explanantion on Monday morning, just like the rest of them.

Doing as planned, he placed a hand on the brass door knob that would open the door leading out to the world, but found that he couldn't face to turn it. He turned himself around instead, wanting one last look at her before he left her. He pushed the door slowly open, negating the creak of the door's hinges, but was surprised to see no one lying in the bed. Instead, he saw the woman that he had returned for, sat on a stool before her dressing table, brushing through her silky locks in the mirror, dressed in a rose red robe.

She turned her head a little and their eyes met in the glass. "I take it that you weren't about to make me breakfast in bed?" Without waiting for an answer, she continued. "You are such a bastard, you know that Gohan? I can't believe it took me this long to realise that what you have done to all of those women over the years is an absolute disgrace." She laughed a short laugh. "And I actually wanted, _wanted_ the same treatment." She stood and turned to face him.

He was dumbstruck. This was not how it should go, how it normally went. Those eyes seemed so angry, but the remnants of her blue eye shadow still remained, giving her the look of a sultry goddess. If he wasn't careful, he was about to get shot down by a very big bolt of lightning.

She moved even closer to him, and began poking a finger into his chest. With every word she gave a sharp prod. "You are a sexist, chauvinistic bastard of a man. You know what? I honestly believed that maybe, just _maybe_, that there might be more between us than there had been with all of your other women. I thought that since you didn't simply sleep with me in the first week there might be something more, that I might mean something to you, maybe that I was special." She laughed, a little longer and harder this time. "As if! I meant nothing to you, did I? Just a good screw to add to your list of conquests."

"Videl, I di-" He was cut off almost immediately.

She was looking deep into his eyes, a sadness in them he hoped wouldn't last, a single tear flowing down her right cheek. "I cannot believe that I actually...fell in love with you."

He closed his eyes at the words as they stung him dearly. Silly girl, she shouldn't allow herself to become trapped by silly emotions like that. He suddenly realised that she was right, however. How many women had he slept with and never even given the time of day to afterwards, simply discarding them as he had the used condoms.

He suddenly felt like the lowest piece of scum on the planet. How would he feel if a woman did the same to him? He couldn't think of a single word to say to her that would make much sense, or ease her pain, so he effortlessly allowed the words that he had uttered on countless occasions down the years.

"You're young, you'll get over it."

When a person has hearing that could sense a pin drop from a mile away, eyesight that can see a speeding bullet from a gun as if it were moving at a pace a snail would be ashamed of, they often miss the little things when they aren't really paying attention or aren't really expecting them.

Her open palm struck his shocked face with considerable force, born out of years sparring with her father as a youngster. The force was not what shocked him, nor did it cause him to snap his head back to allow the continued passage of her delicate hand, it was simply the action of it, and how well he deserved it.

"Oh my GOD!" She screeched. "What the HELL are you made of Gohan?" She began shaking her hand in the air furiously, attempting to shake off the excruciating pain running through the offending body part. She spotted the large hand reach for her own, but didn't recoil, she allowed it to take her own, enfolding her own with a gentleness that was not suggested by their rough, calloused surface. She felt the familiar jolt down her spine as she recalled how they had felt as they ran over her body during the previous night, always knowing exactly what to do, or where to go. She had to shake those feelings off. He had made his intentions perfectly clear, she could not back down now.

His fingers traced over the now throbbing, red palm of her hand. "Oh, Videl..."

"What?" She spat out, although it really didn't sound quite as sharp as she hoped it might.

"I'm sorry."

"Is that it? That is all you have to say. Is that what you would say to the hundreds of women you have emotionally hurt so much."

The high hundreds, he thought to himself, but quickly realised in his mind that that fact certainly did not make things sound much better. No, that made them seem a heck of a lot worse. Had all of those women really felt the same way as Videl, or was it simply because she thought that she loved him? Had any others 'loved' him too? Probably not, he surmised, at least not in the way that Videl obviously did, or thought that she did. Normally a few sweet words was all it took to appease them the next day or week, or whatever. But all of those women weren't as strong as Videl, they weren't as beautiful. They simply were not Videl.

He soon began to feel that this situation could soon get out of hand. His own hands were in fact now enclosed around her own tiny one, engulfing it completely. She too noticed quickly, and withdrew it sharply. That had hurt Gohan, despite the fact that he knew it was forced, and was done with the obvious intent to do just that. This was quite possibly the first time that he had been hurt emotionally by a woman in this kind of relationship.

"Do you _really_ love me? Despite what I've done to you and so many others."

He saw the answer immediately in those eyes, and saw the emotion that he had seen the previous night. That was what it was. Had it been in his own eyes too? He couldn't decide whether he actually wanted it to have been, or if he hoped it had not been present at all, and never would be. He didn't want to be in love.

"Yes." She sighed the word out, as if in resignation to the fact. She couldn't help but feel it, and felt glad on so many levels that it were true. But sadly, he didn't appear to feel the same way, despite what she had glimpsed in his eyes, and even if he did, he didn't seem to want to do anything about it but walk away from it.

"But it doesn't matter, you obviously don't want anything more to do with me, your intentions have become perfectly clear."

He wanted to scream the truth at her, the one that had just dawned on him. He had been waiting for this moment, this time and place, and of course, been waiting for her, his entire life. He was about to blow it completely, his chance at love. He cringed inside. There was that word again, taunting him with its ridiculousness. If only he could admit out loud that he loved Videl Satan. But no, he was nothing but a coward, an unbelieving fool as well, he was still very sceptical about this whole idea of having feelings for her, and suddenly felt an upsurge in the desire to just walk away without any regrets what so ever. A bastard of a man according to her, and he certainly was, he saw it now. If only he had done things differently in his life. But maybe if he had done that, he would possibly never have met her, and he couldn't imagine how life would be without her in it.

Listen to him now! Like a poet or something, spouting off nonsense like that. All he could think of was how she had changed him so drastically, and she didn't know a thing about it because he was far too cowardly and foolish to admit it to her. He had not restrained himself from sleeping with her just to see if he could, he had done it because his heart had actually prevented him, held him back and allowed him to get to know her properly, as if in a real relationship. A realisation hit him once again, they appeared to be coming one after the other today, that essentially, he had never been in a proper relationship with a person before, not in a romantic sense at least.

The mind is an economic organ, and all of Gohan's thought processes were mulled over in an instant, as he stood open mouthed before the only woman that he had ever, and would ever love.

"I think that you should go, I wouldn't want to keep you, I'm sure that you have some very pressing engagements, no?" The stony silence afterwards was matched by her equally stony glare. She certainly was mad. Gohan couldn't quite fathom just why she was this mad, it wasn't like he had cheated on her anything, was being on the bad end of a one night stand really that bad?

"What do you want me to do? To say? I know I've hurt you, but is it really this bad?"

"Yes Gohan, it is. I think that you will have to search yourself for the answer, I won't give it to you freely. I don't even know all of the answers to this myself. But I will tell you this, you need to sort your life out. Because some day you might actually find someone that you can love, and you probably don't want to do this to them, no matter what you say in the contrary at this current time. I just wish that I could be that woman."

If only you knew, was all he could think of.

He turned quickly, he was trying to leave on his terms, to try to save some face. He left a look of complete nonchalance on his features as he did so, and paced towards her door, letting himself out. The way he left actually made it seem as though he really didn't care at all.

However, after stepping through the portal and slumping back against it as it shut behind him, he couldn't help but pick up the sounds from behind him, his sensitive ears picking up every sound in the vicinity, which, thanks to her quiet apartment block only emanated from her own abode.

The sound of her slowly falling to the ground, suggesting that she sat, legs folded underneath her and to one side made him swallow sharply, realising what was to come. She didn't wail, or cry out loud, just simple sobs creeping their way underneath the threshold of her large, oak door.

The sound of love lost.


	5. Ticket To The Moon

Gohan ran. And ran , and ran. And then ran a little more. It was all he could do to get her off of his troubled mind, and he felt as though he would go crazy any minute. Pretty soon his head would just explode, today he would have to see her again.

As he had walked slowly home through the bright winter morning the day after the night before, he had thought things over to great lengths. He had constantly told himself that he was doing the right thing, he didn't need a long term relationship to complicate his life. As if she would take him back anyway. Yes, he would continue as he had been doing for the last ten years or so. After the little 'chat' he had had with Videl, however, he had begun to have doubts about that as a valid lifestyle.

Could he really go on as he had done, for years to come. Maybe into his forties, even fifties, but after that? Who knew what would be in store for him them. He would be without a wife, no children to speak of, stuck in a nice apartment in the city, or maybe even back in the country where he had grown up. Is that what he really wanted?

The thought of having children brought his thought back to that night. Had they used protection? Normally he was calm and together enough to sort that sort of stuff out, but that night he had been hardly in any normal state. All night he had restrained from alcohol, and so had she, but he had still acted in an almost drunken state. Did she know whether they had used anything? He wasn't about to go and ask her whether he might have left her with an unexpected gift.

But the problem was there, and very real, even if they had used contraception. Didn't they occasionally spring a leak? He certainly hoped not, he didn't want a bucket load of saiyans running around unchecked. Even so, he was sure he hadn't got any others pregnant. She could, however, very well be walking around right now carrying his child. He groaned. Would he then have to ask her to marry him like Goten had done when he got his girl pregnant a few months ago? WOuld that be such a bad thing?

So here he was, running. The school was deserted, despite it being a Monday morning, with it being the first day back after christmas holidays, a day where the teachers and students alike mourned the lost time off, only the janitors were currently here along with himself. He had made his way here on foot, and was now jogging his way around the fields completely and utterly aimlessly. He wasn't out of breath, he never was after exercise, one of the obvious benefits of being a saiyan. He knew one thing, he would be eating a hell of a lot after this though.

Sunday, the day after, had certainly been spent that way, in his apartment, alone and feeling lonely for the first time in his life, scoffing away on the stockpiles of food that were amassed. His mother would never let him go hungry, and was constantly sending him food packages to fill his home and stomach, especially around holiday time.

He swallowed hard as he saw a car approaching the parking lot slowly. It trundled into an empty space, and a familiar figure emerged. Instead of continuing along his path around the track, he jogged over to her. Confusion was etched onto his face as he saw that she was alone. Miss Kendry normally brought Videl along with her, sparing her the journey on her own.

"Where's Videl?" He blurted out.

"Oh hi Gohan, you gave me a fright." She composed herself a little, taking far too much time to do so in Gohan's book. "Didn't you hear? She decided to take the option of training at a different school, one nearer to where she grew up, and nearer to the university. She said that she wanted to experience a few varying types of facilities. Can't blame her really. A bit sudden though, she only sorted it in the last few days."

Gohan stood with his mouth hanging open. She had left because of him, and only him. Not some story about 'varying types of facilities'. It didn't do much for his mood, he hadn't been in a terribly good one for a two weeks now, one of melancholy and despair at his actions.

"Where did she go?" He questioned quickly.

"Don't know. Even the principal doesn't know, it was up to the university that she attended. The fact that even you haven't heard the news yet should be testament to the fact that this was a shock. I really liked that girl. And I know that you did too, none of us could believe that you two seemed to be friends, and that you hadn't slept with her. I'm guessing that she was the one that you took home after the party? I was _way _too hammered to remember that night. All I can remember is Mr Toal dropping that wine bottle, did you see it!" She went on and on about some other bullshit. Blah blah blah was all the male heard, her ability to change subject was both intriguing and mind numbingly annoying.

Obviously somewhere in that gibberish, a 'goodbye' had been placed, because she was now walking away from him towards the main entrance, where she swiped her pass across the beam, allowing her entrance into the building.

* * *

Six months passed. Gohan turned thirty, Goten got married, and a baby was born. Hoorah. For all Gohan knew, he could be a father too, but for some odd reason, he just felt that he wasn't. Videl hadn't been pregnant when she had left. Was that a good or a bad thing? He thought back to the first time he had held his nephew. The feelings were indescribable. Chichi had told him that he would make an incredible father. Those words filled him with pride but they also stung. The only woman he could imagine being the mother to his children didn't want anything to do with him. She had moved apartment and he couldn't reach her by telephone. He had searched for her tirelessly, but to no avail. Even his ki sensing abilities hadn't helped.

Gohan hadn't met another woman for months afterwards, but then one day, in a bar near his apartment, he had started speaking to a girl as easily as he once had. She wasn't what one would call a girl though, she was actually older than he was, by almost ten years. She was thirty eight, or so she had told him at first. In truth she was closer to forty two.

But she looked incredible for her age, curves in all of the right places, long dark hair, strong blue eyes. Kind of reminded him of someone. Maybe that was why he had been so attracted to her. She looked so much like Videl it wasn't even funny.

Rosette Swan had rolled into Orange Star City on business, but had also been on the lookout for a place there, due to the relocation of her business. Incredibly, Gohan had seen her again, and then again after that. It wasn't long before she was calling what they had a 'relationship', he had even taken her to his little brother's wedding. His first long term relationship in his thirty years, what a joke.

Sometimes he would even stay overnight at her apartment, and surprisingly enough, he managed to fall asleep with her in his arms on occasion. But that wouldn't last long, he would wake up just an hour or so later with a crick in his neck and cramp in the back of his leg.

She was a bit too tall, when compared to _her_, and she lay her head on his neck far too high, so he had to lean his head back, resulting in the neck problems. And her weight seemed all wrong, he couldn't shift her right on top of him like he had with _her, _so he was unable to shift into a comfortable position. She didn't even fit into his arms correctly. Put simply, even with all of her attributes, Rosette was not Videl.

He looked to his side, and there she lay, where he had rolled her after he awoke during the night. She began to stir, and tilted her head up to him. "Morning." She said drowsily. He simply gave her a smile.

As usual, she was wide awake within record time and sat up beside him. "Oh, I forgot to tell you, Andrea is coming to stay with me for a few days next week."

Ah, yes, the prodigal niece, who she never shut up about. He wondered why he was still in this relationship, absolutely everything reminded him of Videl. Not only did Rosette look the spitting image of his only love, her niece sounded exactly the same by description. Despite the numerous times he had been told, all he actually knew was that she was in her early twenties and was training to be a teacher.

"Poor girl, she's still in a bit of a state over some man." He mumbled to feign is interest in her continuing. "She loved him, but the bastard went and broke her heart." Hmm, uncanny coincidence. He was also a bastard that broke someone's heart.

"She'll arrive in two days, and I want you to meet her."

"Did you tell her about me?"

"Only that I met a wonderful man, and that I couldn't wait to introduce him to her. I value her opinion on these sorts of things, much like I valued her mother's. My sister has been gone for years now, and we are quite close, Andrea and I."

Two days later, it was late evening and Gohan was pacing back and forth in Rosette's living room, awaiting her and her niece. She had gone to pick her up from wherever she lived, where that was, Gohan didn't know. It was probably near Videl's apartment judging from current form.

His head jerked up as he heard the familiar turn of the key and chatter of voices. He heard his girlfriend telling her niece that she wouldn't tell her his name until they met.

For a second or two Gohan was in shock, Andrea could have been Videl's identical twin, she was a perfect match. Then a number of things hit him like a freight train.

Videl _A_ Satan.

Andrea's mother had married a martial artist, Videl's father was a martial artist.

Those vibrant blue eyes that he had fallen in love with stared at him with incredulous disbelief, the long, raven black hair flowing freely around her small shoulders.

Videl had made no move to suggest that she knew who he was, and vice versa. He hoped to keep it that way for now. The two moved forward slowly but surely to each other.

"Andrea, this is Gohan." She held her hand out to shake, and Gohan took it in his own. Both of them felt a sudden lurch in their stomach at the contact. Gohan noticed the warm softness of her touch that had sent him almost into oblivion six months before, and Videl the largeness of his, and how it fitted so well to hers, almost fully enclosing it, reminding her of how well their bodies fitted together. The shock was evident on their faces, but Rosette simply brushed it off at surprise to the other one. Videl, to give her her real name was probably in shock to find a young, good looking man, and Gohan at Videl's beauty.

They both said hi to each other, the word almost coming out as a whisper, both of them still in shock. "Well, I'll allow you two to become acquainted with one another while I put the kettle on."

As soon as she was out of earshot, Gohan spoke up. "Andrea? Why the hell does she call you that?" He whispered sharply, blaming Videl for the confusion.

"It's my middle name idiot. You forgot me soon enough though didn't you? Moved on quick , when are you leaving my aunt by the way?" She retorted quickly, incensed at his presence. She couldn't believe that this was actually happening, she had hoped that she would never be forced to see him again. She was young, she would get over it - his words. But they had been far from the truth, and she was nowhere near getting over it, unlike him, who was now shacked up with her aunt, of all people.

"There isn't anything real between your aunt and I." That was supposed to sound good, but it sounded in his mind like it portrayed him pretty badly, and her face seemed to agree with it. "I'm in lo-"

"Coffee or tea?" Rosette had returned, and both quickly swapped their faces for much happier and welcoming ones.

"Tea please Rosette, two sugars, like I used to have it."

"Same for me dear, you know how I like it."

She wandered back into the kitchen slowly. "Glad to see that you two are getting along so well."

"_Same for me dear._" Videl mocked. "Just how long were you going to string along that poor woman." She deliberately skirted the question of what he was going to say. Did she really want to know that?

He looked and felt flustered. "Oh, I don't know, she was a fallback I guess." Why was everything that he said coming out wrong.

"I'm sure that she would love to hear _that._" The she in question was now walking slowly into the room, carrying three mugs carefully in her long fingers. The time for talk of old times was over, now was the time to look clueless as the two former lovers were told all about each other's lives by Rosette.

The hour was growing late, but only one party was getting tired. The other two had far too much on their minds to sleep.

"I have to get to bed, I'm up early in the morning. Are you going you two?" Rosette asked.

"No, I think that I'll have a quick drink before I go."

Videl glared at Gohan, she had to discuss some things with the man alone. "Me too, I'm not tired at all yet."

"All right, goodnight." With that, and a quick peck to the cheek for both of them, she was gone. Gohan stood up, moving to get himself a drink.

"What would you like?" He questioned the young woman before him. As ever, she looked irresistible. Her slender yet powerful, ivory legs sliding out from a modest but flattering skirt, and a fairly loose blouse revealing just enough skin to entice yet leave almost everything else to imagination.

"You know what I have." She said with a smile, the first unforced one that he had received all night. He did know what she had, brandy and lemonade, an odd concoction in some eyes, but one that was easily attainable from the well stocked bar. He poured her drink, and got a whiskey for himself.

He went and sat down right beside her, where she sat with her legs up underneath her, her shoes taken off hours before. She didn't object when he landed within millimetres of her, a lot of contact ensuing. "Do you think that she suspected anything?"

"No." She said, almost blankly, but a hint of emotion still present.

Gohan sighed and loked down into his drink. "I looked for you, you know? Everywhere, but I couldn't find you, you hid well."

"I wasn't hiding."

He laughed at her trying to cover the fact that she had been hurt. "Yeah, whatever." He paused. "I'm really sorry about everything."

"I bet you are." The doubt was evident in her tone.

"It's true, I was foolish. I've never been in a serious relationship before, and I was scared. I was afraid of what I felt, and what that might mean." Videl was so comfortable around him, despite everything and hadn't noticed that she had shifted her weight onto the other side, and she now had her chin on his shoulder, looking straight at his face as he talked, looking into his now empty glass. "Did you honestly think that all you were to me was a one night stand?"

"No." She managed to sigh out. "But that was what made it worse. I thought that if you did actually care for me and then were able to walk away like that, then we would never be together. I didn't want to walk around that school and see you every day and think what could have been."

"What made you think that I wouldn't want to be with you afterwards, even after I went that morning?"

"The testaments of dozens of women about you and your actions told me that you would never change. I chose to believe them, and in doing so decided to walk away myself, or rather run away. Plus, I still wasn't a hundred percent certain that you did have feelings for me."

Gohan turned his head and saw how her own was positioned, resting on his shoulder. Their faces were barely an inch apart, lips almost brushing against each other. Gohan stared deep into her eyes, the longing he held for her obvious to even a stranger. To Videl however, it was obvious what both he, and she were expecting to happen. She closed her eyes slowly, and allowed him to make the first move. They had been drinking wine all night, and it was beginning to show.

She felt his lips softly caressing her own, his yearning desire becoming more obvious as he deepened the kiss, something that she followed along with. It wasn't long before she found herself being firmly placed on his lap, her skirt hitched up a little as she straddled his hips. Her hands roamed underneath his clothing, as did he, both searching for the spots that they had discovered six months before. Both empty glasses lay on the floor, luckily not smashed as the two of them continued something almost lost many months prior.

* * *

Videl felt completely disgusted with herself. Not that she hadn't enjoyed the night before, it had been wonderful to be back in those arms again, after months of waiting and wondering. But it was hardly something to be proud of, ending up on her aunt's sofa with her aunt's boyfriend, both of them completely naked.

She had a pounding headache, brought on by the buckets of that wine her aunt had unleashed on them. Even if she had been sober the night before, she knew that it would have still happened just as it had. At the time, it seemed like the right thing to do, his feelings had finally become clear.

Sort of, he hadn't actually admitted to caring for her at all, or to have feelings, let alone to be in love. All he had said was - 'did you honestly think that all you were to me was a one night stand?'

That sentence hardly counted for professing your love to someone. Back on the topic of her aunt, she was not too worried. Hadn't she said that Gohan was just a fling? She had been flattered by his approaches at the time, him being a younger man and all, but soon realised that he harboured feelings for someone else despite his attempts at concealment. Little did she know that it was her own niece.

She wrapped her robe around her and tied it loosely at the waist. Slowly she walked into the en suite batroom that accompanied the guest bedroom and tried to switch the shower on. The knobs seemed to be having little effect, and Videl was hardly in a mood to attempt to repair the plumbing. Dazedly, she wandered out into the hall, and into the bathroom her aunt used that was attached to the upstairs hallway.

Inside, she twizzled the knobs, and found that the water was fine. After finding a temperature that suited her, she began loosening the sash around her waist, but stopped halfway when she found that she had left all of her bathroom stuff in the room that she was staying in.

She turned, leaving the water running, to see a half naked man stood within the doorframe, sleep evident in his eyes. With a squeal, she turned around, embarrassed at her, and his predicament. What was Gohan doing here still? Didn't he have a home to go to, or work? Of course, summer vacation, just like herself. And she called herself a woman of intellect. The look on Gohan's face was one of similar shock though.

He walked up behind her as she mumbled her apologies to him. He tilted his head forward, breathing softly onto her cheek and neck. "Don't." She stated, attempting to sound firm, but sounded shaky more than anything.

"Last night..." He trailed off, not sure of what he wanted to tell her. Instead, he began gently kissing along the soft skin of her neck that was exposed to him, moving the fabric of the robe slowly off her shoulder blades. She moaned underneath him, and made no attempt to escape.

"What about Rosette?" She asked him, hoping that he wouldn't stop.

"What about her? She knew that what was between us was nothing special, it meant nothing to me. Besides, she's still in love with her ex-husband. I'll just have to tell the truth."

"And what's that?" She whispered. The sound of the water pounding was beating an almost deafening drum beat inside her head, and she was worried that she might not hear what she hoped he was about to say.

"That I've fallen in love."


End file.
